A moment later, he finally stopped tapping his fingers on the table and said in a grave voice, "Shen Lie was found dead in his own house, and there’s still no trace of the killer. You three have been his fellow disciples for a long time. Tell me, what are your thoughts on this matter?"

The hall fell quiet for a moment, all three of them silent.

Qi Yuanfang, the only woman among the three, had a more meticulous nature. She was the first to speak, her voice tinged with caution. "Master, ever since Senior Brother Shen was injured during the training ground trials a month ago, he’s been recovering at home. Even after he healed, he rarely came back to the Martial Arts Hall. He mostly stayed in his own courtyard or went out drinking. We haven’t had much contact with him recently, so we really don’t have any leads."

Hearing this, Zhao Hu added in his gruff voice, "Yuan Fang is right. That kid’s temper got even worse after he was injured. He got into a fight at a tavern a while back. I didn’t ask who it was with, specifically."

Sun Lei added in a low voice, "Senior Brother Shen’s skill was plain to see. Whoever killed him must be no ordinary person—perhaps an expert from out of town."

As Wang Kui listened to the three of them, his brow furrowed even deeper. He gently rubbed his fingertips across the tabletop, clearly dissatisfied with their vague statements.

After a moment of silence, he said, "I’ve already sent Li Cheng and Zhou Ling to investigate the area around Shen Lie’s house to see if they can find any clues."

Li Cheng and Zhou Ling were both Dark Energy disciples from the Martial Arts Hall. Li Cheng had already reached the Peak of Dark Energy, while Zhou Ling was still a considerable way off.

His voice had barely faded when two sets of footsteps—one fast, one slow—were heard outside the door. It was clearly the people he had sent, rushing back.

Wang Kui looked up to see Li Cheng and Zhou Ling walk into the main hall, one after the other.

Li Cheng was dressed in gray martial arts attire, the cuffs of his pants stained with mud. Zhou Ling wore a green dress, her hair bun slightly disheveled, a clear sign that she had hurried all the way back.

Upon entering and seeing the situation in the hall, they quickly came to a stop. They bowed to Wang Kui, who was seated at the head of the room. "Disciple Li Cheng greets you, Master." "Disciple Zhou Ling greets you, Master."

Though their voices were a bit rushed, they remained steady.

Wang Kui gave a slight nod, his gaze falling upon the two of them as he waited for their report.

Zhao Hu and the other two disciples also turned to look at Li Cheng and Zhou Ling.

Li Cheng took a deep breath, stepped forward, and cupped his hands. "Master, I went to the neighborhood around Junior Brother Shen’s house in Anxing Square and questioned the residents door-to-door. They all said they didn’t hear any unusual disturbances last night. It wasn’t until the cleaning woman who works for Junior Brother Shen arrived that they realized something had happened. An old man living next door said that around 1:00 AM last night, he thought he heard a dull THUD from the house, but he assumed it was just Shen missing a step while practicing his martial arts and didn’t pay it much mind."

He paused for a moment before adding, "I also carefully inspected the ground in the surrounding alleys. I found no signs of a fight, nor any suspicious footprints. The killer was very clean."

After listening, Wang Kui just gave a faint "Mm," and turned his gaze to Zhou Ling, ready to hear her report.

Zhou Ling cleared her throat and said, "I sought out a few of the friends Senior Brother Shen often associated with. Two of them, Qian Tong, the Gang Leader of the Black Fish Gang, and Li Xiaoliang, a Core Disciple from the Four Seas Martial Arts Hall, said they were drinking with Senior Brother Shen at Chunqiu Pavilion in the Inner City just last night. The party broke up Late at Night, and they all went their separate ways. They said Senior Brother Shen seemed no different than usual at the time."

Her voice trailed off for a second, and a strange expression came over her face as if she had just remembered something. She hesitated before continuing, "However... the two of them did mention something. They said that at the table, once Senior Brother Shen got into his cups, he started cursing and ranting about a lot of things. A lot of it was directed at Yang Jing from Sun’s Martial Arts Hall."

"He said that losing to Yang Jing in the training ground trials was a complete humiliation, and that he was going to find a chance to teach Yang Jing a brutal lesson, to ’show that kid what’s what.’ He even... he even said he wanted to injure Yang Jing severely to vent his own frustration."